A Rhapsody in Scarlet
by Oodlesthree
Summary: Rumors are abound of an assassin roaming Japan, and with Conan's luck it's only a matter of time before he's wrapped up in the case! Rated T for later death: what's DC without death? Chapter 3: Hiatus over: WHERE IS MY NOTEBOOK?
1. Rumors Abound

Tiny footsteps clicked against the sidewalk as a certain miniaturized, four-eyed boy of about eight years old walked along the same road he took every day on route to his 'home': school having just let out for the day. The sky was overcast, thick, grey clouds foiling futile attempts the sun might have made at shining a little bit of light through, and a small gust of wind brushed past the child. It played through his clothes and his short, brown hair, slowly turning his appearance more disheveled as the breeze grew stronger: well, the forecast that morning _had_ said it was going to storm later that night… Not to mention tomorrow afternoon as well. A little wind was to be expected. Child-like blue eyes turned upwards as the boy reached his destination; a three story building with a coffee shop on the first floor, an office with the words 'Mouri Detective Agency' on the window above it, and on the third floor a small family residence. His eyes then moved downwards to the coffee shop, narrowing slightly as he noticed something of interest through the window… It could wait a bit, though: he'd investigate in a bit. Turning his attention away, the youth headed up to the second floor office and opened the door, calling out "I'm home!"

There to greet him was none other than Mouri Ran: a high school girl with long, brown hair and the daughter on Mouri Kogoro, who was known across Japan as the famous 'sleeping detective'… There was a long story behind the name, but that wasn't important at the moment; for now, he was just the usual lazy, drunken Kogoro who was busy watching horse races. "Welcome back, Conan-kun!" Ran told the boy, turning her attention away from her father's desk, where she had been cleaning up her father's left over cans of beer and used cigarettes. Edogawa Conan: that was the boy's name… Or at least ever since he, the teenage detective Kudo Shinichi, had been shrunken by a strange organization of men in black, that was the name he was going by. But again, that was a much longer story that didn't really need to be told at the moment. She paid the boy little mind as he set his backpack down, facing her father once again and telling him "Anyway, Dad, can I at least count on you to keep the house a _little_ clean tomorrow?"

Ran's father waved a hand dismissively at her worried question, responding in a 'stop-nagging-me-already' sort of tone "Yeah, yeah, I get it already! I'll make sure the house is nice enough for your little friends, so don't worry."

Conan glanced over to the Mouris curiously, before asking "Are you having someone over, Ran-nee-chan?" Someone from school from the sounds of it… Probably not Sonoko, considering Ran probably wouldn't bother trying to make the house look nice just for her: the Suzuki heiress already came over enough that there wasn't any point in it!

"That's right, Conan-kun," she responded, kneeling down slightly as she spoke to the faux-child—a painful reminder of how short he was now. "We have a couple of new foreign exchange students at school, so I thought I'd invite them over to get better acquainted!"

The mini-detective spent a moment to ponder this, breathing out a mildly interested "Hmm…" Foreign exchange students, huh? A large part of him was hoping they wouldn't turn out to be more Hondou Eisukes: boy would _that_ be a major headache! He really didn't any more undercover agents or their relatives in his life: CIA, FBI or otherwise. "By the way, Ran-nee-chan…" he added, standing back up, "Dr. Agasa invited me over to try out a new game! Is it okay if I hang out at his house for a little while?" It was his usual excuse, but it had never failed him yet: the true reason he needed to visit Agasa was something totally different, of course. His super shoes had been malfunctioning that day, making strange clacking noises on and off as he walked around, and he needed to get them fixed.

"That's fine, just make sure you get home before it starts storming, alright? The weather tonight's supposed to get pretty bad…" Ran answered, and with a slight wave and a thanks Conan was out the door once more, his shoes making strange but quiet noises as he headed back downstairs.

_But before I visit Agasa…_ the mini-detective thought, entering the coffee shop below the agency and starting in the direction of a duo of foreigners he was more than familiar wiith, both of whom had rather serious expressions on their faces. "Ah-le-le~? Jodie-sensei, Camel-san, what a coincidence, running into the two of you here~!" he called out, putting on a childish act for the public: he _was_ directly underneath his own 'home', after all! It was better for 'Conan' to not act too out-of-character.

The FBI duo notably jumped slightly as they heard him: they should've seen it coming, really considering where they were. Conan watched in slight amusement as the large, somewhat bulky agent Camel's eyes slid over to rest on him, and the blond, glasses wearing Jodie turned to face the child addressing them. "Oh! Cool Kid!" she exclaimed, using her little nickname for Conan, though she didn't have much of a chance to say anything beyond that before the child had already climbed into a seat at their table and started talking once more.

"You guys have such _super_ scary looks on your faces!" he said in the same childish tone, but paused for a moment as his wide eyes sharpened, adding in a more hushed tone "Did something happen?"

Agent Camel chuckled slightly, commenting "Nothing gets past you, huh kid?"

Conan had to resist grumbling in response to the 'kid' comment, but instead of griping he chirped "You bet not~!" This, as he turned his gaze to Jodie, basically translated to 'so tell me what's going on already'.

Nevertheless, she still hesitated as she responded "Well, I don't think it has anything to do with you, so don't worry…" Conan cocked an eyebrow and sent her an impatient look, however, causing her to add "B-But I don't suppose there's any harm in telling you…" After all, the way cases followed him around, if something was up it was probably for the best in he was in-the-know. "You see, we caught wind of a rumor the other day that the internationally wanted assassin, Scarlet, has recently entered Japan."

"Scarlet?" echoed Conan: the name didn't ring any bells in the mini-detective's mind… Could the guy really be an international criminal, and yet he hadn't heard of him? Perhaps later he could check his father's criminal files…

Camel took a sip of hip coffee and added "I'm not surprised if you haven't heard of him… He's never operated in Japan before, and he hasn't even been around that long. The first time we became aware of him was about…" he paused for a moment, thinking back, before coming up with an estimate. "…About a year and a half ago, I think. And besides that, cases regarding him are usually kept quiet, considering…" Once more, the faux-child raised an eyebrow in question towards the FBI agent. Considering…?

"Well, anything beyond that is classified information, but we can give you a general idea of why." Jodie interjected, preventing Camel from continuing. Conan's inquisitive gaze turned instead to her now: so the details were kept secret? It stunk of political interference, but he stayed quiet about that point and let her continue. "To keep it short and sweet, Scarlet's handiwork is far, far from pretty: the things he leaves behind can only be called overkill. He's considered highly dangerous and possibly mentally unstable."

At the way Jodie ended her little description, Conan couldn't help laughing nervously as he commented "Sounds like a pleasant fellow…" Or far from it. "Seems it really doesn't have anything to do with me! Always nice to know when there's a deranged killer on the loose, though." On that note, he stepped down from his chair and turned to leave, before pausing and adding one more thing. "By the way, Jodie-sensei, Teitan high got two new transfer students."

Jodie seemed a bit taken off-guard by this random statement, blinking as she asked "Oh, really? Is there something strange about them?"

Conan laughed inwardly at his own paranoia in asking her about it in the first place, and replied "No, it's nothing… Never mind. I'll see you later, Jodie-sensei! Camel-san!" Ha, he'd just wanted to make sure it really had nothing to do with the FBI: from the sounds of it, it sounded like they really were two completely unimportant students! And with that, he exited the coffee shop and made his way to Dr. Agasa's house, shoes clacking all the way.

_There really isn't much on this Scarlet guy, is there?_ Thought Conan as he scrolled through his father's case files on Agasa's computer, shoeless feet idly swinging back and forth. The files basically just reiterated what Jodie had told him, though he did learn a few new facts: for instance, when the assassin first appeared, it was in America… That would explain why it was the FBI's problem. Though after a while, he made several appearances in the UK, France, Italy and a few other European countries as well: all in a little under two years! Now there was a busy fellow! It did seem, though, that this was his first time in Japan, if the records were anything to go by. Lastly, he always left a note behind with the body—if it could even still be called such; his dad's files had a picture from one of the cases… Jodie hadn't been kidding when she said 'not pretty'—written in cursive, claiming it to be his own work. And since it was always hand-written, it was easy to tell the real ones from the fakes.

"Scarlet, hm? I've heard of her." Came a familiar, somewhat monotonous voice from Conan's right. Standing there was none other than Haibara Ai, his fellow shrunken comrade and ex-member of the Black Organization, holding a pair of shoes for him. "Your shoes are fixed, by the way." Her gaze turned up to the computer screen as he took the repaired footwear from her, and she added "There were a lot of rumors flying around about her while I was still with the Organization."

"Ehh…" he breathed, looking back to the page onscreen for a moment longer before closing out of it. "Her, huh? So Scarlet's a woman?" From the way Haibara was talking, it didn't sound like he—or she?—was very well acquainted with the Organization, if at all… Which came as quite a relief: he didn't need any more dangerous people like that in his life to worry about.

Haibara shrugged at his question, answering simply "Who knows? I certainly don't." Ha, of course. She had just decided to use 'she' like Conan was using 'he'. The shrunken scientist narrowed her eyes and glared up at his after a moment, asking cautiously "Why are you looking into someone like that, anyway? Don't tell me that now you've got _Scarlet_ after you as well!"

Conan shook his head and waved a hand in dismissal, telling her "No no, it's nothing like that! Jodie-sensei mentioned it, and I was just curious." She relaxed visibly, seemingly satisfied by that response, and he decided that it was probably better from him not to mention that Scarlet was in Japan at the moment… It didn't seem to involve either on them, after all.

A low rumble of thunder rolled through the air, and Dr. Agasa poked his head into the room. "Shinichi, it's started raining… Do you need a ride home?" Sure enough, as he looked out the window, Conan could see a light drizzle of rain, growing heavier by the minute. He nodded to the professor in thanks: it was about time he got back, before Ran threw a fit.

**Author's notes: **

Okay, someone please tell me, cause I can't figure it out for the life of me… _Does Ran know about Conan's fancy shoes or not?_ I'd imagine she might, since she's usually there when they're capturing criminals… But whenever she's around and they try running away, she uses karate before he can kick them, right? Most of my friends said she probably doesn't know, but…

What do you all think?

Also, I love Agent Camel for some reason. Probably cause when I first met him, I suspected him of being Vodka in disguise for the longest time. xD

And Ran-nee-chan looks weird when typed. xP

One last thing. Whenever you say 'super shoes', say it like "SUPA SHOESSSSS"

I know the ending's kind of derp and rushed... My mind died a bit and went blank. xD


	2. Notice

**Disclaimer: **

**I can't believe I forgot to do this last time! Ahhh, what an idiot. Dx**

**Well, it should've been obvious to you all that I don't own Detective Conan, but for those that might **_**not**_** know… Well, the only things here that belong to me/my brain are Will, Rina, Scarlet and that random gem called the Maiden's Sorrow. xP**

The next day flew by in a hurry, the tapping of rain on the school windows and wind blowing through the trees distracting enough to hold Conan's attention over the course of the school day. Before he knew it he was on his way back home; thoroughly soaked by the time he arrives, his clothes and hair having been made a mess by the wind. He first decided to head up to the third floor to change, rather than going straight to the office only to have Kogoro complain about him tracking water everywhere like sort of pet. The boy donned a yellow T-shirt, and green jacket and matching pair of shorts, after mostly drying off his hair with a towel, then descended to the second floor and entered the office; greeted by a chorus of 'welcome home!'s.

Looking up in surprise, he noticed two unfamiliar faces amongst those in the room; no doubt the foreign exchange students Ran had been talking about, considering the fact that neither were Japanese in ethnicity and both wore Teitan uniforms. "Conan-kun, remember the people I was talking about yesterday? Why don't you introduce yourself to them?" she asked, smiling pleasantly as Conan nodded an 'okay' to her.

The girl and the boy were both grinning widely as Conan looked up at them: what was with that look? They were way too happy… But, either way, he smiled in an adorable, eight-year-old kind of way and started "My name's Edogawa Conan! It's nice to meet—"

He couldn't even finish before the girl had already swept him off his feet, practically squealing in delight. "I just can't take it anymore! He is just _too_ cute~!" she sung, squeezing him adoringly with sparkles in her eyes. He got a better look at her then; aside from having noted at first glance that she seemed to be around five and a half feet, he noticed that he chocolaty brown hair he had thought to be short was actually braided in the back. Behind her glasses, her (currently shining) eyes were a shocking emerald, bringing life to her otherwise plain face. "My name's Rina, Conan-kun! Rina Fey~" She squeezed him a bit more as she finished "It's sooo nice to meet you~!"

Conan was, thankfully, freed from her grasp a moment later as Rina's companion took him from her. He was a good half a foot taller than her at around six feet, with short, scruffy reddish-brown hair and brey-blue eyes. "Rina, you're squishing him, silly~" he told her, though somehow he didn't seem too concerned about it, considering he still had a big grin spread across his face. Looking down to the faux-child, he added almost as an afterthought "You can call me Will, by the way~ William Smelt!"

Will set him down on the couch, and though Rina persisted in fawning over Conan, she didn't pick him up again. "Yes, well, now that you're all happy and buddy-buddy, can you take this upstairs? I'm busy right now," Kogoro grumbled, cutting into their little meeting. Sure enough, the older detective seemed to be focused on something atop his desk. Hopping off the couch and climbing up onto his lap, Conan peered at the parchment that held his attention.

"Uncle Kogoro, you got a job?" he asked, glancing over the document, his eyes widening in surprise as he got a better look. "Wait, this is-!"

"—A Kaitou KID notice, I know," Kogoro finished for him, glancing down at the notice: from the looks of it, this was just a copy of the original… No doubt either the police or the client had the real one. He seemed somewhat irritated as everyone gathered around to look down at it, and Conan learned why as he added a moment later "If you want to be specific, I guess I should say _you_ got a job: the client asked for your help, not mine." Inwardly, Conan couldn't help but laugh nervously at the statement: he supposed he _had _built up quite the reputation as KID's rival…

Of course, all this triggered Rina to start fawning over the faux-child once more, as she sung "I'm so impressed, Conan-kun~ You must be so smart, to be stealing detective work from Mr. Mouri~!" As she picked him up again—did she have to keep doing that?—however, she glanced down at the notice and asked "But who is this 'Kaitou Kid'? I think I might've heard of him before... maybe...? Maybe not?" In other words, she had no clue at all.

"You mean you haven't heard of him?" asked Ran in surprise, though her father didn't seem quite so shocked.

"You two kids are American, right? It's no surprise, then: KID hasn't been out of Japan for years. Plus, over where you're from, it was... Uh... 'Phantom Thief', right?" he explained, his english pronunciation of 'phantom thief' a bit shaky, though the title struck a chord with the foreign duo regardless.

"Oh, I've heard of him! I was pretty little at the time, though~" Rina exclaimed, earning a nod of agreement from Will. "So this is a note from him? Let's see, let's see…" She trailed off as she placed Conan back on the ground and plucked the note from Kogoro's desk, looking it over and commenting "Oh, it's in English! Lemme read it…"

_In the deepest hour of the night_

_by a light than brings darkness_

_the true thief shall be revealed._

_He shall come to reveal the Sorrow's foe_

_and bring to an end that which causes the Maiden's suffering._

_Tonight, that which is white shall be blood red._

_-Kaitou Kid (doodle)_

A small moment of silence wafted through the room, in which they all let the words sink in and pondered their meaning. All of them, that is, except one. "Ugh, I don't understand half of all that! One of you kids translate for me!" Kogoro complained, earning a laugh from Rina as she and Ran offered to explain the note to him and huddled around the desk, while Conan was left with Will to ponder its true meaning.

"The first three lines are relatively obvious," the mini-detective commented, earning a little 'I'm listening' nod from the red-head. "The 'deepest hour of the night' would be midnight, and if we take a 'light that brings darkness' to be moonlight, then considering KID's usual habits, he's going to show up on the night of the full moon." Will frowned at this, a slightly confused look on his face, though he nodded slowly once more. Conan shared an equally puzzled look as he continued "The only other obvious thing is the gem he's going to steal: there's a tiara with a large, teardrop shaped diamond on display not far away called the 'Maiden's Sorrow'. No doubt that's his target…" Beyond that, though, there were several things about the note concerning in the small detective…

"Oh, I see! The fact that 'Maiden' and 'Sorrow' were both capitalized is a hint, right?" Will chimed, earning an approving nod from the faux-child, before laughing and adding "Heehee~ I'm starting to catch on~" He giggled for a moment, and his grey-blue eyes fell upon the bespectacled boy. "So, O wise leader~! What does the rest of it mean~?"

"Eh?" It took Conan a moment to realize how smart he'd been sounding just then, and a moment more to remember that he was supposed to be just some ordinary kid. "Er, I mean, but that's all stuff I bet the police already figured out! I-It's nothing special… I don't understand any more of it~" he stammered out in a more 'childish' tone, laughing nervously: he couldn't tell whether or not he had convinced Will, though… He and Rina seemed to follow their own unfathomable pace. Conan wasn't lying though: inspector Nakamori, who was used to dealing with KID notices, should have figured that much out almost right away, and he had yet to figure out more…

Kogoro seemed similarly stumped, having finally had the note properly translated for him, though he pretended to have at least some semblance of an idea what he was doing. "Well, I _would_ tell you all exactly what it means, but…" he bluffed, though the lie was obvious, "I'll have to save it for tomorrow, when we meet Nakamori and the client! You can hear about it then." This sparked a short bout of complaints from Rina and Will; neither side of the duo satisfied until Kogoro agreed to let them tag along as well. Though really, they had nothing to do with it…

It wasn't long before they left to go back to their apartment ('Bye Leader!' 'See you later, Leader!'), and Conan went upstairs with the Mouris to have dinner. The day was strangely mundane from that point on—or perhaps it only seemed that way because the duo had left?—and before long the sun had set and Conan was settling into bed. Though as he fell asleep, he couldn't shake the odd feeling that something wasn't quite right…

**Author's notes:**

**On a side note, I noticed there's a lot of nodding in this chapter… -nodnod-**

**Also, to Silentlane491! Thank you so much for answering my question: I wasn't certain, but having someone else say she didn't know was reassuring enough for me~ Plus the fact that someone reviewed got me off my lazy arse and writing~! xD**

**Btw, you will never hear either Will or Rina call Conan 'Conan' again: he's 'Leader' from now on~ Kinda like how Zura addresses Kagura, y'know? =P**

**Lastly! If I got any KID facts wrong, primarily regarding the previous KID, lemme know? I'm pretty sure I didn't, but I haven't read Magic Kaito, sooo… D;**


	3. Hiatus over!

**GUESS WHO'S BACK!**

**Sorry I kinda poofed… Well, if anyone's still reading at least. xD;; This is my last semester of High School, so things've been a little hectic lately, you know?**

**ANYWAY! So right now, at this exact moment, I'm searching around frantically for my notebook, so I can finally wrap up the next chapter and get it updated! The silly thing is, though, I shouldn't be having so much trouble finding it!**

**I mean, come **_**ON**_**! Other than the Rhapsody in Scarlet notebook, ALL of my spiral notebooks are the exact same spiral notebook: why I did such I thing, I have no idea. But you'd think that since it's the only green one, it would be easy to find! But nooooo, I can only find these blasted blue notebooks!**

**Anyways, hopefully I'll find it today and update soon! Wish me luck and burn a blue notebook for me in prayer, please. . _ .;;**


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